Job Hopping Syndrome (JHS) is Career Threatening
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Job Hopping Syndrome (JHS) is Career Threatening

I posted this image on LinkedIn last week (July 2018) with only this message:

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“a new disease is on the horizon - it's career threatening - as the economy heats up people switch jobs for the wrong reasons and catch "job hopping syndrome."

In a few days more than 150 thousand people read the message. It’s obviously an important topic, however the comments were across the board. A few even said job hopping was good and others said that anything done in 2015 (the copyright) had to be outdated thinking. That’s like saying Newton’s First Law of Motion is outdated or Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is equally invalidated. 

Regardless, let me set the record straight. I was wrong in one respect: Job Hopping Syndrome (JHS) is not a new disease. 

Of course, it’s hard to make a serious point in a 200 character tweet. So let me explain the entire concept in about 600 words starting with the definition.

Job Hopping Syndrome(JHS): Switching jobs multiple times for short-term reasons and winding up with too many wasted years. Worse: The syndrome is easy to diagnose on one’s resume making the person less employable.

To spot it during the work history review ask the candidate why she/he changed from job D to job C (i.e., her/his previous job). Then assign the reasons into one of the two categories in the bottom half of the Job Seeker’s Decision Grid, either the “Daily Grind” or “Going Nowhere.” Then ask why the person took job C and assign these reasons into one of the two categories in the top half of the Decision Grid, either what the person received on the start date (i.e., salary, title, location and vague description of the job) or for serious career reasons. Most people will say for serious career reasons. Then ask what these reasons were and if the purpose of the job change was achieved. Then ask the appropriate why or why not questions. 

What you’ll discover is that most people believe they’re changing jobs for career reasons but that’s not what actually occurs. Most people overvalue what they’ll be getting on the start date and accept the vague promises about the future opportunity. Only the most diligent and truly career-minded candidates recognize that changing jobs is one of the most important life decisions they make. These are the people who fully understand what the work actually entails and have reasonable proof that if they’re successful the future opportunities are promising. The rest give excuses about how they were misled about the job or the hiring manager was a jerk. 

To see if this is a pattern, ask the person why she/he changed from job C to job B (her/his current job) and if the purpose was achieved. If you hear similar excuses you’re beginning to diagnose JHS. It’s worse if the candidate leaves jobs for short-term extrinsic reasons and accepts them for other short-term reasons. To avoid winding up with JHS I suggest candidates only switch jobs if they get a 30% non-monetary increase. The 30% is the  combination of a bigger job, a mix of more satisfying work including working for a strong hiring manager, a job with more impact and one that offers a high probability of continued growth and learning. Recognize that a lot of the growth is attributed to the hiring manager so ask about this person’s track record with a few of your potential future peers. 

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Under duress it’s easy to get seduced by a job that offers a bigger paycheck, a better title and location closer to home. But once the company considers you a serious candidate, start asking the important year one and beyond questions to determine if the 30% non-monetary components are realistic, vague or hyperbole. As important, though, is that by asking these questions you’ll likely become a finalist since you’ll be perceived as a career-focused person, not just a job hopper. 

______________________________

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Lou Adler is the CEO and founder of Performance-based Hiring Learning Systems – a consulting and training firm helping recruiters and hiring managers around the world source, interview and hire the strongest and most diverse talent. Lou is the author of the Amazon top-10 best-seller, Hire With Your Head (John Wiley & Sons, 4th Edition, 2021), The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench Media, 2013) and LinkedIn Learning’s Performance-based Hiring video training program (2016). The latest edition of Hire with Your Head describes how to implement Performance-based Hiring to build outstanding diverse teams. 

Joseph Lomino

High-throughput Fellow at Moderna

5y

Where does no growth in current passion for in? Which might increase the job hopping urge.

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Paulene Rorich

I help businesses and individuals find clarity, direction and solutions.

5y

I'm apparently a 'job hopper' (although I prefer to say I have had a protean career). This is not because I am unstable or lack committment. My background is in small business, where there is often little opportunity for vertical movement - in order to move UP, you have to move ON. People in large organisations have opportunites to move laterally and vertically, without being labelled 'job hoppers'.

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